


Not the Marrying Type

by realismandromance



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Bisexuality, Drama, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Humor, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 06:38:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4695914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realismandromance/pseuds/realismandromance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While shopping for bodysuits for the first-born child he and his wife are expecting, a man bumps into his ex-girlfriend. He'd broken up with her five years before, saying, 'I'm not the marrying type.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not the Marrying Type

He was in the baby-clothes section of Target, shopping for bodysuits in anticipation of he and his wife's first child. Sensing a red-clad employee behind him, he turned and said, his face breaking into grin of relief:

'Excuse me, but I'm looking for -'

He stopped short. The person standing there was not a teenager in a baggy shirt with rolled-up sleeves, but a woman with neatly-pinned brown hair and a raised eyebrow. She was five years older than when he had seen her last, but he had no problem recognising her as his ex-girlfriend.

'I don't know what you're looking for, Tom, but it's not me,' she said, smiling slightly.

She had always had a way with words, he remembered. Those exact words had been her response to him when he'd split up with her, saying, 'I'm not the marrying type.'

And now he could not think of a single thing to say to her.

'Er ... hello, Lara. It's been a while,' he said lamely.

'Five years, four months and one day, to be exact,' she said brightly.

He hadn't even remembered the date. Oh, no, had she been pining after him all this time? he thought wildly. They'd long been over; he was married now ...

'I see you're married,' she said, her eyes noting the ring on his finger. 'What happened to "not the marrying type"?'

And now she could read his mind!

'Oh, you know,' he said, trying to be as careless and offhand as she was. 'Things happen. People change. I wasn't ready for settling down right then.'

'I see.' She pursed her lips, as if summing him up. 'Is your wife expecting? Do I know her?'

'No, I met her three years ago. She's due in March.'

'No, really? Congratulations! You must be happy.'

'I am,' he said honestly.

She tilted her head to the side, like a child. 'So ... you found what you were looking for?' The corners of her mouth twitched.

Was she mocking him?

'Yes,' he said firmly, sure of this answer at least. 'Yes, I did.'

'Are you sure?' she said, nodding at the forgotten too-large bodysuit in his hand. 'Because those are awfully big clothes for a newborn, you know.'

He put it back on the rack hastily, feeling her critical gaze on him. Yes, of course he'd known! He'd only been holding it fondly, imagining his own child in it, when he'd remembered to look for size 0000, not size 0. But her attitude was bothering him.

'Lara, what are you trying to say?' he said in an urgent whisper, conscious of the people nearby. 'Look, I know you were upset, but that was five years ago. I'm married now. I can't change the past.'

She looked taken aback. 'I know you can't,' she said, not bothering to lower her voice. 'I don't want you to. All I wanted to say was: can we be friends?'

'Friends?'

'Yes. Look, I know we dated, but that was five years ago. I've a partner now. I can't change the past.'

'You've a  _partner_?'

'Yes.' She pointed over at a person standing in the shoe section. 'Right over there. Her name's Stella.'

He was surprised. 'So, you're ... you're ...'

'Bisexual. Not a lesbian. There's a difference.'

He'd known that, but he only nodded. They stood awkwardly there for a moment. Anxious for something else to do, he searched through a few racks before he found a couple of 0000 bodysuits for sale. Just then, another woman - short, blonde and pregnant - came over to them, carrying a partly-full shopping basket..

'Did you find anything, Tom?' she asked, and then spotted the woman next to him. 'Who's this?' Her tone was puzzled.

'Oh,' he said. 'Anna, this is Lara, my ex-girlfriend and now friend. Lara, this is my wife, Anna.'

Lara could tell the change in his voice from 'my ex-girlfriend' to 'my wife'. She saw the way they looked at each other.

'It's lovely to meet you,' she said to Anna. 'You're a very lucky woman. And congratulations on your baby.' She'd said it before, but this time she was more sincere.

'Thank you,' Anna said, a little stiffly. She plucked the 0000 bodysuits from Tom's hands and stuffed them in her basket. 'We really should be going now,' she added to her husband. With a nod and a wave, they were off and soon disappeared around the corner.

Lara watched them go without regret. She and Tom hadn't exchanged phone numbers, but they didn't have to anyway. It was the sense of closure that she had needed, more than anything else. After all, they'd both found what they were looking for.


End file.
